Dreams Uncuffed: The Legacy of a Life Cut Short

June 22, 2018

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Yeabsira Solomon Bekele was born in Ethiopia in 1997, relocated to Edmonton with his parents and his younger brother in 2007, and travelled across Asia to share the Word of God and a message of empowerment. In March 2018 in India, Yeabsira died trying to save his best friend from a high-voltage electric line.

Dreams Uncuffed is an initiative set up by his brother to establish a sports facility in Ethiopia to train children from low-income families in sports, leadership, and faith both as an afterschool program and a summer camp. The dream is to expand this model throughout Ethiopia and around the world. This fundraising campaign is aimed at start-up costs such as setting up a non-profit organization, developing plans, securing the location, and building basic infrastructure. LIM is not in a position to evaluate the economic side of this project, and so this article makes no recommendations for or against donating.

Alyssa Redner — Yeabsira’s Fiancée

It’s been an extremely long few weeks. Wait. That’s an understatement. I watched Yeabsira Solomon, the love of my life, get accidentally electrocuted, then I travelled from three countries, and helplessly saw my love’s coffin slowly be put into the ground.

Although I have lost something that was so special to me, I choose not to look at what I lost but what I have gained. Without Yeabsira, I would not be the woman I am today. He believed in me when I didn’t. Through all the chaos, I realized how strong I actually was, that I stand on the promises of God.

What I gained is far greater than what I lost. I gained a new Ethiopian family, an opportunity to keep Yeabsira’s legacy alive through Dreams Uncuffed, and the realization that so many people around the world believe in me. This has given me such an appreciation for life because you never know when it will end. Do you know how lucky you are to have a beating heart, to have blood flowing through your veins, and breath in your lungs? You have ONE life to live. Are you using it to its full capacity? YOU have greatness within you, why are you hiding it? All I ask is that you live out the greatness inside of you and invest it in others around you. In the words of the wise Yeabsira Solomon, “Why not you? Why not now?”

Nati Solomon Bekele — Yeabsira’s Brother

There’s nothing as hard as losing a brother. It’s hard to think that the person you shared all types of memories with is…gone, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.

My brother was a fighter, he lived each day as a hero. Quitting was definitely not in his vocabulary.

He was an amazing guy, and he did a lot of amazing things. He had this ability to share what was on his heart on any given moment, and it be such a captivating and moving thing. He was willing to talk to anyone willing to listen. If you were lucky enough to listen, you’d know just how much he cared for the well-being of people, and how much he wanted people to know God. He cared that you had a smile on your face, that you weren’t alone, that you shared your ideas, and that God was at the centre of your life.

I remember one day, as we talked about what we wanted to see in the world. He told me, “If you want to change the world, start with Why? Because it’s not your emotions or your drive that will change the world, but it is your Why?

He wanted a sports academy that allowed low-income parents to be able to have their kids trained in a spot of their choice. He didn’t want it to be some ordinary program. His dream was to not only train kids physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. He wanted to organize seminars for kids to learn how to think, how to speak and how to lead.

Though his life was cut short, he did things most people will not do in a 100-year lifespan.

“Life is a box of seeds that you sow in every person you meet.”

Alyssa’s Thoughts

In Yeabsira’s short lifespan of 20 years, he managed to sow seeds in everyone he could, especially into my life. While we were dating, I sat down and recorded him as he talked about his vision. He said this, “I could talk to a million people and if it could change one person in those million lives, I still see it as success in my eyes.” I am that one in a million that he changed.

I want to share with you as he would with me: God showed me while on a walking trail surrounded by trees and plants that we do not need to do anything, and yet nature is always naturally reproducing—that’s how God intended it to be. God created us to be reproducers, sowing into everyone we meet. Yeabsira was always planting seeds of life; he knew life is a precious gift.

I thought that in my twenties I had all the time in the world—until I had a reality check as I watched Yeabsira die and I could not do anything about it. I learned through Yeabsira that I had to take every opportunity to sow into those around me. As Yeabsira spoke about his vision, he said, “Imagine seven billion Jesuses walking around.”

One encounter from Jesus can change a heart in a moment.

Dreams Uncured is all about helping you find your way to change the world. Our ultimate goal is to help you discover the greatness inside, so that you can change the world in your own unique way. Even though Yeabsira is not here, he is still sowing seeds today through this movement that began through him. Take what you have received and sow back into the world. Live it out and join the cause at www.dreamsuncuffed.org.